They Call Him “The King,” Part IV- Seven Fine Seasons

When Richard Petty won his fourth Cup title in 1972, he once again blazed a new trail. Until then, the record for points championships was three. Guess who it was? If you guessed Lee Petty, you were right, as NASCAR racing’s “King Daddy” won it all in 1954,’58, and ‘59.

To “The King’s” credit, he won the titles under a variety of points systems and he fended off an all-star team of drivers to do it. Each championship has a story:

1964- Triumph & Tragedy

The season was a mixture of success and sadness. Defending Cup champion Joe Weatherly lost his life in an accident at Riverside. Just a few short months after winning at Augusta, Fireball Roberts died from complications that resulted from his fiery crash in the World 600 at Charlotte. In fact, six of the seven top finishers from that Augusta race in November, 1963 died within 14 months of that event, be it on the track or on the highway.

On the positive side, Wendell Scott’s win that was technically part of the 1964 season was the first time an African-American had won a Cup race. Billy Wade won four races in a row that summer, and the popular Ned Jarrett won an incredible 15 races.

Weatherly started the season in the lead, but his life ended in the January 19th race- the fifth of the year. Marvin Panch took the lead after that, and held it until late May, when Petty, who had also won the Daytona 500 took second at the World 600.

With greater consistency, Petty (with 9 wins, 37 top 5’s and 43 top 10’s) was able to top Jarrett and David Pearson, who was making his first real run at a championship.

1967- The King Is Crowned

Jarrett took the title in ‘65 and retired, while Pearson won his first in 1966. Richard Petty really made his name in one of NASCAR’s all-time dominating performances.

In 48 starts, Petty won 27 races, including an eye-popping 10 in a row! He had to have his “A-game” to take it all, because he had a driver with ZERO wins holding the lead for several months on sheer consistency! That was second-year man James Hylton. The “Randleman Rocket” made his incredible stretch run starting August 12th at Winston- Salem, and he wouldn’t yield for another at race’s end until Buddy Baker stopped the winning streak at Concord on October 15th. Petty won his second title with a margin of over 6-thousand points over Hylton.

That same year, Petty became the career wins leader when he topped Lee Petty’s record of 54 at Darlington in May.

1971- Petty Becomes The Million Dollar Man

Do you think the money in NASCAR then was different than it is now? With his earnings in 1971, Richard Petty became the first driver to surpass the million dollar mark for his career. Petty was champion once again, after Pearson dominated in a Holman- Moody ride, and the improbable Bobby Isaac took the title in 1970.

Visions of James Hylton filled the legend’s rear view mirror, though once again, his opponent hadn’t won a race. Petty cruised to victory with 21 wins on the year, easily topping Hylton, Cecil Gordon, Bobby Allison and Elmo Langley. 1970 champ Bobby Isaac ran little more than half the season’s schedule. Just 12 drivers won races- 6 of them, only one.

1972- A New Standard For Excellence

It was the dawn of NASCAR’s “Modern Era.” The schedule was shortened up, Bill France Jr. was taking over, STP signed a deal with Petty Enterprises and a computer geek’s dream was hatched with a fractional points system that scored completed laps. I don’t that anybody said it where the press could hear it, but no doubt there was a bit of an effort to “Petty proof” the system to try to level the playing field.

Bobby Allison was making a heck of a run at the reigning champ. James Hylton’s steady approach got results, giving him the lead. Petty took the lead at Talladega after Hylton wrecked.

There was an epic clash at North Wilkesboro on October 1 between the Alabama Gang’s leader and the champion- and unlike the Petty- Pearson battles where there was something of a bond- there was a sense that Allison really disliked Petty. The two fought it out over the final five laps. Allison had the lead going into the final lap but it was the King emerging victorious. The winner was accosted by a drunk fan, but brother Maurice fought off the attacker with Richard’s helmet.

Allison topped Petty in wins 10-8. They were about dead even in every way, but still Petty was the winner by 127.9 points. It’s kind of like adjusting a race car sometimes the more you try to tweak it one way, the more it goes the other. It was a new day in NASCAR but they had the same old champion.

1974- Daytona Sets The Tone

All you need to know about this season is that Richard Petty and Cale Yarborough finished first and second at Daytona, and that’s really all. 1973 champion Benny Parsons, Bobby Allison and David Pearson all had solid seasons, but a points system that would have given Albert Einstein an ulcer all but assured a 1-2 points finish for the top two drivers at the Great American Race.

Fractional points were multiplied and re-multiplied after each race. According to NASCAR, The Complete History, the idea was to correlate points to money won.

In terms of wins Petty and Cale WERE the top guys with 10 each. Petty had one more top five than Yarborough (22-21), and he also had one more top ten (23-22). It all came out right, you could say, but what a mess. The same account recalls that Darrell Waltrip finished second in the Southern 500, while the champion crashed and finished 35th. Petty still got more points than D.W.

The system was dumped after one year. In 1975, a points system was devised that is still used today.

1975- No Matter How You Score, Petty’s Still Top Dog

With the new points system in place, consistency is king. Wait, check that. The King is still the king. In this season, Petty set a Modern Era record with 13 wins, a feat that has only been equaled by Jeff Gordon.

Petty’s most dramatic win came at Dover. A broken tie rod forced a lengthy stop, putting him six laps down. A caution late in the race gets Richard back on the lead lap and he overtakes Dick Brooks for the win.

The champion outpaced runner-up Dave Marcis by over 700 points. James Hylton, Benny Parsons, Richard Childress (yep, that Richard Childress), Cecil Gordon, Elmo Langley and Dick Brooks all made the top ten in points without a single win. With four wins,15th place Buddy Baker equaled the combined totals of Marcis (2nd), Parsons (3rd) and Darrell Waltrip (7th).

Truth is stranger than fiction.

1979- Now This Was A Chase

Richard Petty’s 7th title run was the most tightly contested of them all. The King and Darrell Waltrip ran neck and neck as the pair set out to end Cale Yarborough’s three-year reign as top dog at the Winston Cup level.

Waltrip led most of the way, in spite of Petty’s unlikely win at Daytona- after front runners Yarborough and Donnie Allison wrecked out on the final lap. The brassy and sassy “Jaws” rang up wins at Riverside, Darlington, Concord, Texas (Bryan) and Nashville to take the lead.

A furious rally by Petty set up a scenario where the lead changed hands after each of the last four races. Waltrip led after North Wilkesboro, Petty snagged it after winning at Rockingham, Waltrip led by two points after Atlanta- by virtue of finishing one spot in front of Petty.

In the season finale at Ontario Motor Speedway, the young Waltrip spun out while trying to avoid another spinning car. It put D.W. a lap down and he was never able to recover. Petty finished fifth, Waltrip eighth. Petty wins a seventh championship by a razor thin margin of 11.

In that same season-in another strange twist of symmetry for Richard Petty- a struggling stroker from Kannapolis, North Carolina was named Rookie Of The Year. NASCAR’s next seven-time champion, Dale Earnhardt, was gearing up for his first in 1980. While he had a handful of good seasons in the early 80’s, the king’s reign was drawing to a close.

To me, what sets Petty and Earnhardt apart was their staying power. Both won their titles over spans of decades, rolling with changes in the sport, and a changing competitive landscape. 14 years separated Earnhardt’s first and last championships. 15 years was the separation for Petty. Look at how much racing changed during Petty’s run.

Even with all the changes, Richard Petty pretty well beat the field like a rented mule in his golden era. A good competitor can get hot- it takes a great one to sustain it.

The roll call in Petty’s class is mighty short. You can take that to the bank.